Here's what we had to say about Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper!All is a go so lots of spoilers!! We await your comments!! We can't wait!! ;0)
Note: See earlier post for our answers to the Book Club questions!!
Janet: I enjoyed this novel's ups and downs. I love Picoult's trademark twists. I could not connect to Sara on any level in this story, no matter how hard I tried. Besides the main issue of her conceiving Anna just to save Kate and all the following medical procedures, I also felt that a good mother would never give up on a child (Jesse). I think this even spoke to me louder than the rest. How could you let that happen? How could you love child so much as to let another (or two, in this case) go? I enjoyed Anna's character and was very sad that she was the one who ended up dying. Overall, I really liked this novel.
Lisa: I really enjoyed this story. It is one of those situations where you don’t know what you would do or how you would feel if it were you. Although I think I agree with the father more. I think I know myself well enough that if I love any of my other kids as much as I love my daughter I could not use one of them to save the other. She didn’t want to send Anna to hockey camp because of what might happen to Kate if she were gone. WTF? So, she gave Anna life, but not to actually live. I didn’t really like the ending. I was hoping that Anna got to live her life and that Kate had some sort of miracle lived for another couple of years then passed away peacefully. I don’t know? But after all that and Anna dies anyway?
Stacy: As a whole I really enjoyed reading this book. It kept me interested, the characters were interesting, I agreed with Brian's role as Anna's father over Sara's role. I didn't like Sara much, no matter how many times she said she loved Anna and Jodi tried to show us through back stories and such, I still never believed it. I believed she loved Anna to some degree but I just felt her heart was with Kate and Kate only. We can say all we want that we would never do to our kids what Sara did to Anna, but do we really know that?Campbell and Julia's characters and story was a nice side story that I think helped make the book a little less intense. I have to say I really thought that Anna dying was the wrong choice, a powerful one, but not the one I wanted. I wanted her to give Kate her kidney by choice and have Kate go into an 8 year remission. Maybe I'm a sucker for happy endings.
Ok so I loved this book! I was just really not used to the ups and downs this book had!!! I think I am so used to reading books that were....um...romantic bullcrap?!?! if thats the correct word for it, that when it came time for some serious real life decisions, I couldnt believe that I was so appalled anmd enthralled!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for sticking "favoring" a child...I am ashamed to say I do. I guess parents always do. It is a human thing. I think devon I am harder on because is older and I am expecting him to act a certain way and I expect way more out of him. Anthony, I look at that he is still my little baby. When he says no to me and hits me and does naughty things, sure I tell him no, but I still secretly laugh and think oh my god he is SO friggin cute!!! Anyway side tracked from the book.....it would be hard though to "risk" one childs life to save another. I dont know if I could do it with my boys. But like Sara said, I might actually take that risk if it meant possibly having BOTH of my kids alive instead of only one!!!! Heart wrenching though!!! And then Anna dying....WTF!! Seriously! But wow. I was left with my mouth hanging open!!!!!!!!
I think that after some time I was thinking more about the story and really it's all sort of pointless. I mean really Anna's character is pretty weak. She knew she couldn't stand up to her parents so she felt she had to hire a lawyer. The thing is if she went to the hospital and told the doctor that she didn't want to do the surgery I am 99% positive that the doctor wouldn't have done the surgery. I can not believe that any doctor would do a surgery on someone against their will. Plus I think if she sat down with her parents and had a serious talk that they would never force her to do the surgery.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like Sara's character that much...she would have tried to change Anna's mind, but when it came down to it she wouldn't have made her do the surgery. Although Sara could end up resenting and hating Anna for the rest of her life. I really never felt that Sara cared for her daughter. Loved her maybe, but actually cared for her beyond her being her sisters savior. I can't believe that. The author didn't give me enough to convince me of it. Also that the parents just gave up on Jesse. Oh he's just a lost cause forget him. What? Seriously? He's your baby boy don't you care what happens to him?
I also understand with out her going to court their wouldn't have been a book. I also understand it is one of those situations that unless you're in it you don't always know what decisions you'd make and so on. I also get it that if you have a very sick child the attention to the other two would be affected, but to completely write them off something is wrong in that picture. There are problems there that go beyond a family with a terminally ill child.
I guess that my first comment for the book club probably shouldn't be negative (by the way, I'm so excited you're doing this!!), but I got so mad at this book!! As a new parent, I realize that that my emotional reaction due to what's going on in my life probably had a lot to with it - but that's the best part of reading, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI struggled through the first couple of chapters as they went through the back story of how she got sick, I couldn’t imagine trying to have to go through that with Addison. But after that part I really started to enjoy it. I really like how every chapter was someone else’s point of view and we got to see the story from all angles. Although I was never able to identify with Sara, I really did enjoy Cambell and Julia’s side story, (though I thought the epilepsy was kind of a flimsy excuse for a break-up) but when Anna died I was ready to throw the book across the room! I guess I’m also a sucker for happy endings….